1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for mounting instruments of various types and sizes in a motor vehicle, and in particular to an arrangement for mounting instruments on the A-pillar of a car or truck. The arrangement is in the form of an adapter that includes a portion arranged to fit into a standard opening of a pillar mount, and that accommodates different size instruments by also including an instrument-receiving portion that is offset from the portion arranged to fit into the pillar mount opening.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a currently-available instrument mounting arrangement made up of a mounting structure 1 that attaches to the A-pillar of a motor vehicle and that includes a plurality of openings into which may be fitted instruments and/or gauges having a circular cross-section and an appropriate diameter. This arrangement enables vehicle owners to install the instruments and/or gauges without having to cut holes in the A-pillar, and yet obtain a professional or factory installed appearance.
By way of background, the A-pillar extends substantially vertically on the side of the windshield in a car or truck. By mounting instruments on the A-pillar, the instruments can easily be viewed by the driver without obstructing the driver's view of the road, and without forcing the driver to look down away from the road. Instruments that are conventionally mounted in a pillar mount include, by way of example, tachometers, boost gauges for measuring turbocharger performance, pyrometers for measuring exhaust gas temperatures, and engine oil temperature gauges.
One limitation of the conventional pillar mount arrangement is that it only fits a single instrument or gauge size. While the hole size can be varied to fit different instruments, once the hole size is established, so is the instrument/gauge size. It is not possible to replace an instrument with an instrument requiring a different size opening.
In addition, the conventional pillar mount arrangement only support instruments with a predetermined shape. Once the pillar mount is installed, the purchaser can only mount instruments having the predetermined shape. Thus instruments that require a larger size or different shape, such as a GPS navigation system, cannot be mounted on the conventional pillar mount.